RIP WHM/SCH

[desufin]

Yes, I understand it is a very important ability, T11 been there, done that. However it's still an ability/trait that is learnt as an Arcanist (DPS class), and is directly inflicted on the enemy. So I personally think it's more suited to be shared among casters. Also note that I said 'from a healers perspective'. And also it does not fall flat being on casters, I have yet to see a single coil static group that does not have at least one caster.

As for Proshell being on all healers, I think it's way too early for you to claim that it makes WHM less desirable. WHM gets more DPS abilities, an instant cure (assuming like Lustrate) meaning they can emergency heal while DPSing, as well as another HoT in the form of a bubble AoE. Each healer job is getting more tools, so for WHM to have been the only healer to keep Proshell would have been completely unfair. Also, Proshell does not have 'little' impact. It's a magic defense buff that will last an entire fight, the amount of mitigation that brings to the table alone is immense.

Arcanist having the Supervirus trait is irrelevant as ACN is part of SCH. Or are you implying Proshell is a WHM trait and not a CNJ trait? The balance perspective on Proshell is that WHM had a permanent buff (unless someone died then it had to be recast on them which could be costly) but it's on its own weaker than Fey Covenant which was seen as the SCH alternative. Bosses don't often have large scale frequent aoe spell spam where Proshell somehow makes a gigantic lead in damage mitigation, ESPECIALLY not in a scenario where it's a matter of life & death like Supervirus actually is.

There is NO buff or debuff that is as good at full alliance damage mitigation like Virus, NONE. Dragon Kick? Weaker. Storm's Path? Weaker. Sacred Soil? Weaker. Stoneskin? Single target cast. Adloquium? Single target cast (altho SCH are getting teh ability to put the shield in an AoE). Succor? Too weak. You'll also notice several of the already great damage mitigation tools already belong to SCH or will do so (AoE Adlo). Proshell being given to all healers is a balance symptom of "all tools need to be present" which is okay, BUT it's not well thought out when SCH never needed Proshell and it leads to the imbalance that SCH now has every major damage mitigation tool in their arsenal while WHM got nothing new in that regard.

I'm really looking forward to what WHM is getting, I don't think they will disregarded or "left behind", but Proshell is NOT a fair balance without giving all healers Supervirus as well. Another thing of note is the effectiveness on Proshell even on long fights vs. Supervirus. Proshell scales on M.Def so it's weaker on physical dps, medium on casters and most effective on tanks but the grand total effect is still very minor overall but yea as you said in long fights it adds up. BUT on the big damage aoe's, Supervirus will be there short of the boss not being targetable (T9 Megaflare, T13 Teraflare) and the difference in mitigation is staggering.

You also can't force groups to take SMN to make up the lack of a SCH, this is part of why Proshell is being given to all healers, so people don't feel forced to take a WHM. You also can't force Supervirus to only apply to SMN/SCH/BLM because again, you can't force groups to take a BLM either. Especially not when we also consider that DF is not classist, it doesn't assemble groups on any other rules than the specific tank/healer/dps setup each dungeon, trial or guildhest is set for it.

So again, saying Proshell being given out to all is a balance decision to prevent classism is hypocritical as long as Supervirus remains exclusive to SCH. Supervirus is from not only a healer perspective but a group perspective is both mandatory and simply gamechanging.

[VanilleFang]

Snip.

Not going to lie, this is super confusing. Everything I've run, mostly, has had me (as WHM or, especially, SCH) expected to use Virus. SMN barely use it and BLM use it even less. I don't see Supervirus as a DPS-esque ability.

Also stating that its DPS-esque because it targets the enemy is silly imo. The target doesn't designate the "role" of the spell. While it is easier for them to use Virus, SMN and BLM usually seem to not want to be bothered with using it, just like SMN with E4E. I've run everything except for higher end coils and a few extremes, so it might be different there, but in the majority of content it is left to the healer to use it. Even though, obviously, it would be easier for a DPS just to throw it out during their rotation.

And what do you mean "from a healers perspective"? As a WHM I wish I could use Supervirus.

EDIT:

And Arcanist having the Super-Virus trait is not irrelevant. For the past few months, have you not heard how many issues are being created from SCH/SMN being tied via ACN? My point is that if they did seperate the jobs completely, Super-Virus would be a utility tool that is more suited towards the SMN, as it is a direct debuff on the target.

I agree with this though. Even though we technically shouldn't argue it since SCH/SMN are probably never going to get split up.

[Nihility]

i don't see them taking over in any way other than newness factor

by the notes they've been putting up about scholar so far

a big aoe heal to compliment succor
an ability to transform adloquiem from a 300potency heal and 300/600 potency shield to a 600/900 potency heal which
the ability to basically bane adloquiem and eye for an eye to the whole party
and a sac the fairy to boost your own output

they are going to be able to go into a beastly WHM mode if they want

and it looks like WHM is getting augmented to be a power healer/damage dealer at the same time hybrid too

[Knoahl]

I just think they are giving us more options if anything, we already have a solid base toolkit, they are just giving us new spells which arent mandatory but helpful. Especially for going above and beyond our role! ^^ SCH DoTs with faerie sacrifice is going to be crazy, so excited with WHM healing while damaging and SCH giving strong barriers out, or WHM abusing divine veil just sounds so amazing.

to arms healers! We have DPS to carry!! XD

[Kabzy]

I just think they are giving us more options if anything, we already have a solid base toolkit, they are just giving us new spells which arent mandatory but helpful.

I think that's kind of the whole point that's being made here. When every job has a lot of options, it becomes a lot harder for differentiation to occur because they can pretty much do all the same things. Subsequently the healer jobs become more boring because switching from one to the other won't offer much of a change in play-style.

(Of course keeping in mind this is just speculation from the Live Letter info. We still have a lot to find out yet.)

[ErzaScarlet77]

im just happy we get a healing class that isnt pet based or is super boring like whm

[papichulo123]

so astro does a bit of both scholar and whitemage thats cool

[DarkmoonVael]

Haste has been in game for a long time, its called fey light and fey glow. Rip sch, who has been giving haste since 2.0.

[elemental10]

You do realize that when it says Haste, it means more spell/skill speed?

Selene has been doing that for a long time.

Besides, I doubt AST can manage as much heal as a full WHM or make a defensive barrier as good as an SCH.

AST has the ability to do both but I doubt it has the same potency. What makes AST unique is the extra bonuses you get from the cards, augmenting your spells in a certain way.

[Seryl199]

The way I see it, we still have 50 levels worth of job and class skills. Granted, this is my first MMO to see through to an expansion, but are the few new abilities really projected to completely change how each class plays? Or is it the usual hubbub of forum drama here. Unless one class becomes terribly underpowered to where it can't compete with the others, I'm sure I'll find myself swapping between all three, and I have no doubt SE will move to balance things out if an issue arises.

It's not as though either class is losing significant abilities, I doubt SCH or AST will be able to compete with WHM's raw healing throughput with Divine Seal, PoM, and high potency heals. Scholar will still have mitigation, DoT's that never miss, and a pocket healer. AST, as far as I know, is anyone's best guess. Not to mention, we have no idea about what kind of content we will be faced with. Perhaps healer abilities are being overlapped slightly because they plan on taxing more of our toolkit. Each healer will need to be able to function well in light party content, and that may mean WHM needs to mitigate more, and SCH may need to burst heal more. We just don't know, and everyone's eager to throw everyone else to the wayside instead of wait with baited breath and hope that every healer is awesome.